On Seeing: An Online Exhibition Series

08/26/2010 11:21 pm ETUpdated
May 25, 2011

On Seeing: The Purpose Paradox

What exactly does it mean to look at--to really see--art? What questions do we ask ourselves and how do we accept and then expand on our initial response to shift into a place where seeing becomes a dialogue, a question and answer session with each new work?

The nine artists in this exhibition transform and transfigure the stuff of everyday life--Popsicle sticks and paper strips, soccer balls and patrol uniforms, grocery bags and vintage clothing, traffic lights and fingerprints--into something new that reverberates with the visual, conceptual, and psychological power inherent in a shift in perspective.

These artists approach their practices through lenses that range from philosophical to wry, physical to visual, socio-political to psycho-social. But each work invites reconsideration, of the objects and materials that surround us and our presumed relationships to these objects, as well as to space and place, memory and reverie, medication, immigration, time.

I think of looking at art as conversing with an inanimate object, not just any object but an essentially purposeless one. It is just this purposelessness that makes art so compelling, and I suppose for some, infuriating or confusing. As soon as a thing gains a function--to stop a car or clothe a body--it's form is tied to that function. But when its function is art, the thing has no goal beyond itself and the responses it elicits. By starting from something with an ostensible purpose, these artists flip functionality on its head.

Whether you approach this show with skepticism or enthusiasm, a wealth of experience or none, I invite you to consider each image slowly, for more than the average few-second glance. Explore the possibilities that lie inside and beyond your first look. You don't even have to leave your home or office. Sit back, relax, and reflect--let the conversation commence.

PHOTO GALLERY

On Seeing: An Internet Exhibition

"On Seeing" is an exhibition series on the Huffington Post curated by Annie Buckley. It includes emerging and established artists from around the globe. The goal is explore the depth of how we see and reflect on art while expanding the range of ways to view art.

"On Seeing" is not a commercial exhibition series. Any commercial interest should be directed to the link in the caption. Should sales arise from this series, each participating artist and gallerist has been invited to donate 10 % of the proceeds to REENCONTRO, a local group helping AIDS orphans in Mozambique.